1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toys and, more particularly, to a toy having a personalized voice message stored therein for selective playback and a system for remote recording of such voice message.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is not uncommon for people to send personalized messages to children or other loved ones when away from home. As such, toys and stuffed animals capable of recording and playing back voice messages have become increasingly popular.
Over the last several years, many different types of toys which enable the recording and playback of voice messages have been developed. For instance, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,468,172, 5,279,514, 5,184,971 and 5,489,231 disclose various different types of toys having means for recording a voice message, memory means for storing the voice message and means for selectively playing back the recorded voice message.
Although useful for their intended purposes, these prior art devices have not proven to be entirely satisfactory. Specifically, these devices typically will continuously replay the message as long as the activation switch is depressed. This often poses a problem with children who tend to hold the switch in the depressed position, thereby replaying the message over and over and draining the batteries. Additionally, it is not uncommon for the switch to become depressed when storing the device, again causing the message to be replayed over and over until the batteries are fully drained. Another problem with the prior art devices is their excessive current draw, which further drains the batteries, thereby shortening their useful life. Also, these prior art devices are specifically designed to record the voice message via recording means in the device. Consequently, a person desiring to send a personalized voice message in these devices must purchase and physically take possession of the device, manually record the message by speaking directly into the device and then package and mail the device to its intended recipient. This process can be very time consuming, thereby dissuading people from doing it.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a toy having means for preventing continuous replaying of the recorded message when the activation switch is held down and which reduces the amount of current drawn, thereby preventing excessive drain on the batteries and extending their useful life. Any such device should enable the purchaser to purchase, record the message and have the device shipped to the desired recipient from any remote location without having to take physical possession of the device. The present invention is particularly suited to overcome those problems which remain in the art in a manner not previously known.